1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to antibodies to sulfated carbohydrates, particularly chondroitin sulfate A (CS-A), chondroitin sulfate C(CS-C) and chondroitin sulfate E (CS-E). Antibodies to CS-A, CS-C and CS-E are provided, as are methods of using such antibodies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Glycosaminoglycans have an inherent capacity to encode functional information that rivals DNA, RNA and proteins. Specifically, these polysaccharides display diverse patterns of sulfation that are tightly regulated in vivo. Kitagawa, H. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 272, 31377-31381 (1997). Plaas, A. H. K. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 273, 12642-12649 (1998). Chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycans play important roles in biological processes such as neural development, viral invasion, cancer metastasis and spinal cord injury. The three major sulfation motifs found in vivo CS-A, CS-C and CS-E, differ only subtly in their sulfation pattern and are identical in terms of stereochemistry and sugar composition. Although glycosaminoglycans contribute to diverse physiological processes, an understanding of their molecular mechanisms has been hampered by the inability to access homogeneous glycosaminoglycan structures.